Week Two Notes

We started the year in our Outdoor Classroom! Here are some week 2 notes:

Monday, Sep 12

13 chrysalides, 1 J, 1 cat

we always have a combination of whole group, small group, and one-on-one lessons each day; for example

Whole Group

Spelling & Grammar - explain that the correct plural of < octopus > is "octopodes" and the correct plural of < chrysalis > is "chrysalides"

Art - collect and organize materials for the Beautiful Stuff project

Map Skills - read The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky at snacktime



Read Aloud Story - begin The Alphabet: How Pine Cone and Pepper Pot (with the help of Tiptoes Lightly and Farmer John) learned Tom Nutcracker and June Berry their letters by Reg Down, read chapter 1 through 4 at lunchtime (letter A)




Small Group: Pterodactyls

Nature Study - recall celery experiment from Thursday and look at results, look at celery root (celeriac)

Recitation - "Not Really Jelly" by Kate Coombs

Penmanship - introduce Montessori blue line paper, practice writing capital letters, assessment

Pawpaw Recipe - make Pawpaw Fool


Small Group and One-on-One: Plastic Utensils

History - choose professions for Living History Day
(see Colonial Trade / Occupation Project post for more details)

Pawpaw Recipe - make Pawpaw Jell-o

Math - finish individual Math meetings, assessment

Tuesday, Sep 13

14 chrysalides, 1 J

History - thank you to the student who arranged a Special Guest for Living History Day!

Map Skills - set up sundial (slender stick in the center of a piece of newsprint, trace the shadow on the newsprint every hour), recall yesterday's story and look at the angle of the shadow on the sundial



look through Anno's Sundial by Mitsumasa Anno and choose an experiment to do tomorrow, teach "Wristwatch as a Compass" trick



explain that in orienteering two steps = five feet for an average adult, use a 6 foot measuring stick to measure the length of the children's stride, explain that a compass is actually used for walking in a straight line and not really for finding North (think of it as North is zero and then from there you know which direction you should walk)



review that Ancient Babylonians worked in base 60 as well as base 10 (and decided 7 days in a week, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute... as well as 360 degrees in a circle), investigate why 360 degrees was chosen for the divisions of a circle

factor 60
(it is the lowest number evenly divisible by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6)

divide 360 by 7, 8, 9, and 10
(360 is evenly divisible by all the numbers 1 through 10 except for 7)

Snack - read Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle



Lunch - read B chapter of Alphabet Book

Local Politics - watch presentation by City Manager Gary Williams
"Should the City of Carbondale Cease to be a Home Rule Unit: A Question on the November Ballot"

Nature Study - sketch pawpaw, write PAWPAW, sketch seed, write SEED, cut pawpaw open and sketch the inside, make Pawpaw Salsa
(see Pawpaw Recipes post for more details)

Lowercase Letters - take apart and look at a fountain pen (including examples of bent nibs from children writing with too much pressure), add ink cartridges, explore: what is the lightest stroke you can make and still make a mark? (see J is for Jellyfish post for more details)

Wednesday, Sep 14

15 chrysalides

Map Skills - do sun height experiment on pages 8-9 of Anno's Sundial

Math - make Spaghetti Angles using two raw spaghetti noodles and a semicircular protractor; I chose a few angles for them to make as practice (60, 120, 190, 270) and then each child got to choose an angle for them to make with the spaghetti (40, 97, 124, 179, 333)



Snack - read The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davis



Handwork - set up handwork baskets, have one-on-one meetings to get children into new projects

Lunch - read C, D, E chapters of Alphabet Book

Lowercase Letters - practice jellyfish poem, enjoy cooked spaghetti sensory bin, learn Single Vertical Downstroke letters (l, t, i, j, f)

History - choose authentic colonial era name, plan signage for shops, consider people they could interview (blacksmith, herbalist)

Play - Pattern Play by Mindware, make fairies using peg dolls and various colorful scraps of scrapbooking paper



Science Club - review the water cycle with the Water Cycle Mat, discuss student prior knowledge and questions about acid rain, explain pH scale and litmus paper, do Miracle Berry Experiment (PDF)



thank you to the family who donated the miracle berry cubes and a huge variety of foods for us to sample!

Thursday, Sep 15

15 chrysalides

Map Skills - teach how to take a bearing using a compass, spot a box turtle briskly walking across the yard (very convenient) and take its bearing (240 degrees), recall the Spaghetti Angles protractor activity from yesterday and gut-check 240 degrees for reasonableness



Red Fred in the Shed: Using a Compass

play the Coin Game

stand in a grassy meadow
drop a coin on the ground at your feet
take a bearing of 60 degrees, walk 10 paces
take a bearing of 180 degrees, walk 10 paces
take a bearing of 300 degrees, walk 10 paces
you should be back at your coin!

Handwork - finger knitting projects (finger knitted & braided belt), knitting projects (pig, elephant, horse), counted cross-stitch project (free-flowing symmetrical design pincushion, 1 line of symmetry)



for counted cross-stitch, we teach the children as follows:

start with your needle behind the fabric and coming up in the lower righthand corner of the square you'll be making an X on

"up and to the left" (first diagonal line)
"over one" (horizontal line behind the fabric)
"down and to the left" (second diagonal line)
"over two" (horizontal line behind the fabric)

right handed students work a row of Xs from Left to Right

Form Drawing - look at Shadows and Reflections by Tana Hoban, draw one half of a pawpaw and then reflect it across a line of symmetry



Lowercase Letters - review and practice Single Vertical Downstroke Letters, do jellyfish artwork with watercolors and chalks

Art History - read Alexander Calder (Meet the Artist!) by Patricia Geis at snacktime



practice making wire figures using pipe cleaners

read Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell at lunchtime



if you'd like to show your child a little bit of Josephine Baker in action:

The photos to go with this week are here.

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